Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China – Rachel DeWoskin

Foreign Babes in Beijing portrays Rachel DeWoskin’s time in 1990s Beijing, working both as an actress on a soap and in the equally superficial world (some would say) of PR. The people this American graduate meets and befriends over the years she spends in China never really come alive, and I got the end of the book feeling that DeWoskin hadn’t really managed to do them justice. On the other hand, she provides an amusing insider (of sorts)’s view of the workings of Chinese TV production, and her early struggles to settle and succeed in a country and a culture very different from her own.

Buy it: Amazon link